Vertical filing cabinet



Oct. 25, 1966 5. D. MURRAY VERTICAL FILING CABINET Filed June 17, 1965 INVENTOR. Gi lberi Donald Murray.

United States Patent C) 3,281,193 VERTICAL FILING CABINET Gilbert D. Murray, Morristown, N.Y., assignor to Gary Industries, Inc., a corporation of Nevada Filed June 17, 1965, Ser. No. 464,707 4 Claims. (Cl. 312184) This invention relates to improvements in filing cabinets and is more particularly concerned with the novel construction and assembly of a mobile suspended vertical filing cabinet adapted to receive, in suspension therein, file holders of like or different sizes.

Filing equipment of the character to which this invention pertains is of a type comprising a substantially rectangular casing open at its top surface to receive therein file folders disposed in a manner to permit them to be inserted and withdrawn upwardly through the open top surface. Heretofore, such suspension filing cabinets embodied no means to retain the file folders of different sizes in an orderly substantially vertical position with the result that they would sag or otherwise become arranged in a disorderly fashion.

The filing cabinet herein disclosed embodies novel means to maintain file folders suspended vertically. It also embodies novel means to adapt it readily to accommodate legal size file folders or letter size file folders or a combination of both. To this end the file folders, which are V-shaped, are each provided with a suspension hanger bar on their upper free edges. These bars are notched at their ends and are of a length to be engaged over tracks formed on the file cabinet for holding them suspended vertically and to permit them to be shifted to facilitate access to a specific file folder. The cabinet itself is dimensioned to accommodate both letter and legal size file folders and is provided with a novel readily removable divider, having tracks thereon, which, when in place, adapts the file cabinet to receive letter size file folders alone or a combination of legal size file folders and letter size file folders.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide vertical filing equipment of the character referred to.

Another object is to provide suspended vertical filing equipment with novel means to adapt it to accommodate file folders of different sizes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novelly constructed removable track for suspended vertical filing equipment.

Another object is to provide vertical suspension filing equipment which is not diflicult or expensive to manufacture, is readily adjustable as to file folder accommodation and which is very eflicient in use.

The structure by means of which the above noted and other objects and advantages of the invention are attained will be described in the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, showing a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mobile suspended vertical filing equipment.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the filing equipment arranged to receive two sets of letter size file folders.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the divider bar.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing legal size file folders arranged in the cabinet.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view showing letter size file folders arranged in the cabinet.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing both letter size and legal size file folders arranged in the cabinet.

Referring to the exemplary disclosure of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, the filing equipment comprises a generally rectangular sheet metal cabinet 11 including side walls 12 and connecting end walls 13. Preferably, the cabinet, which has an open top side, is supported on legs 14 having casters 15 on their bottom ends adapting the cabinet to be portable.

The upper margins of the sideand end walls 12, 13 are turned inwardly to provide horizontal marginal ledges 16 which have their free inner margins turned upwardly to provide upstanding tracks 17, 18 on the side and end walls respectively. The upper margins of the tracks 17, 18 are rolled over downwardly outwardly to provide a smooth top edge as best shown in FIG. 3.

The cabinet 11 is proportioned in a manner to permit a plurality of file folders 19 of legal size, to be arranged laterally thereof. These folders are conventional and each may comprise a V-shaped folder having on the upper free edges of its side walls a hanger bar 21 which has its ends projecting beyond the side edges of the folder and suitably notched on their underside in a manner to be seated upon and ride along the tracks 17. This is perhaps best illustrated in FIG. 2 and, as shown in FIG. 6, the entire length of the cabinet may be utilized to accommodate legal size file folders.

In order to adapt the cabinet to accommodate letter size file folders (FIGS. 4 and 7) or a combination of letter size file folders and legal size file folders (FIG. 8) there is provided a divider bar 22. This divider bar, which is best illustrated in FIG. 5, is of a length substantially responding to the spacing between the side wall upstanding tracks 17. It comprises a strip of stiff material formed U-shaped in section to provide a pair of upstanding tracks 23 coextensive with its length. The upper margins of the tracks 23 preferably are rolled over inwardly downwardly to provide a smooth rounded top edge. The divider bar 22 is provided on each of its ends with a mounting bracket 24 in the shape of an inverted U.

When the divider bar 22 is in place bridging the cabinet transversely, the U-shaped brackets overlie the related upstanding t-racks 17 and the free outer leg 25 of each bracket is engaged in a slot 26 provided therefor in the related ledge 16. This supports the divider bar rigidly and with the upper free edges of its tracks 23 lying in the same plane as the upper free edges of the tracks 17, 18. It should be evident that the divider bar 22 may be easily, quickly and accurately mounted on the cabinet and be retained in a fixed position by engagement of legs 25 in slots 26. As shown, these slots are located midway the length of the cabinet so as to divide it into two like halves. Each of these halves or sections has a length responding to the effective length of a letter size file folder so that, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 7, two sets of letter size file folders 27 may be suspended therein. The letter size file folders are constructed like the legal size file folders except as to length and each includes a hanger bar 210, the notched ends of which are engaged over and ride upon the respective tracks 18 and 23.

As an alternate use, shown in FIG. 8, one half of the cabinet may be used for letter size file folders 27 and the other side may be used for legal ize file folders 19.

Preferably, the cabinet is fitted with a cover 28, connected to it by a piano hinge 29 so as to be swingable from the open position shown in FIG. 1 into a position overlying the open top surface of the cabinet and the file folders suspended therein.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, in considerable detail, it will be understood that the description thereof is intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details of the structure disclosed may be modified or changed without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be restricted to the exact construction shown and described.

I claim:

1. Vertical filing equipment comprising a substantially rectangular cabinet including side and end walls, said cabinet being open on its top side, inwardly turned margins on the upper edges of said side and end walls, the margins on the side walls each having a recess therein substantially midway its length, upstanding flanges on the terminal edges of said inwardly turned margins, a removable U-shaped channel bar having upstanding side walls dividing the open top side into two end sections, said channel side walls having their free edges disposed in the plane of the free edges of the upstanding flanges, and means on the ends of said channel bar to bridge the related upstanding side wall flanges and engage in the recesses in the related inwardly turned margins to support and prevent longitudinal shifting of said channel bar.

2. The vertical filing equipment recited in claim 1, in which the means on the ends of the channel bar comtop side of the cabinet.

4. The vertical filing equipment recited in claim 1, in which the cabinet is mounted on rollers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,887,539 11/1932 Brown 1291 1,927,347 9/1933 Lee 312321 2,031,460 2/ 1936 Chambless 211123 2,623,526 12/1952 Page 129--8 3,114,583 12/1963 Ziegler 312-184 FOREIGN PATENTS Ad. 62,428 6/1955 France.

682,703 10/ 1939 Germany. 820,528 9/ 1959 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS. Examiner. 

1. VERTICAL FILING EQUIPMENT COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR CABINET INCLUDING SIDE AND END WALLS, SAID CABINET BEING OPEN ON ITS TOP SIDE, INWARDLY TURNED MARGINS ON THE UPPER EDGES OF SAID SIDE AND END WALLS, THE MARGINS ON THE SIDE WALLS EACH HAVING A RECESS THEREIN SUBSTNATIALLY MIDWAY ITS LENGGH, UPSTANDING FLANGES ON THE TERMINAL EDGES OF SAID INWARDLY TURNED MARGINS, A REMOVABLE U-SHPED CHANNEL BAR HAVING UPSTANDING SIDE WALLS DIVIDING THE OPEN TOP SIDE INTO TWO END SECTIONS, SAID CHANNEL SIDE WALLS HAVING THEIR FREE EDGES DISPOSED IN THE PLANE OF THE FREE EDGES OF THE UPSTANDING FLANGES AND MEANS ON THE ENDS OF SAID CHANNEL BAR TO BRIDGE THE RELATED UPSTANDING SIDE WALL FLANGES AND ENGAGE IN THE RECESSES IN THE RELATED INWARDLY TURNED MARGINS TO SUPPORT AND PREVENT LONGITUDINAL SHIFTING OF SAID CHANNEL BAR. 